The 19-year-old goaltender, who became Canada’s No. 1 goalie at the 2014 world junior, but couldn’t help lead it to a gold medal, is fed by a desire to get Canada back on top of the junior hockey world.

“There is something I can do better in the crease, always,” Fucale said after Canada practised at the Bell Sports Complex on Monday. “We didn’t win last year, and I look in the mirror and say I have to step it up.

“Nothing is done. I have a lot of things to prove in order to make this team, and I am excited to start this preparation on the road to get to that tournament.”

Of the four goaltenders in the summer camp — Eric Comrie, Tristan Jarry and Philippe Desrosiers also are in competition for a job — just Fucale has world-junior experience.

It gives the Montreal Canadiens prospect an edge in that he will have been down the road before if he’s one of Canada’s two netminders at the 2015 tournament in Montreal and Toronto.

A main point of emphasis from the coaching staff at camp, and it’s something the players will keep in mind during the four exhibition games this week starting on Tuesday night against the Czech Republic, is that no player who was a part of the club last winter should feel secure.

Coach Benoit Groulx couldn’t have made it more clear: The goaltending slate for Canada is clean.

“Like anything else, (Fucale) was a part of a team that ended up with no medals,” Groulx said. “He has confidence in himself, he is a very good goalie, but everything is in front of us, and he has to prove himself like everybody else here.

“This is the first step of a long process.”

It wasn’t yet clear how the goaltending duties will be split this week. The goal is for each of the four to get 60 minutes, but whether that means one full game for each or two halves will be revealed on Tuesday after the morning skate.

In the weeks leading up to the championship last winter, Canada named just Fucale and fellow netminder Jake Paterson to the selection camp roster, so no goalie was cut. Groulx hasn’t determined whether he will use the same method this year.

Hockey Canada goaltending consultant Fred Brathwaite will get to know the four young men better than anyone in the organization. Once the regular season starts in the Canadian Hockey League, Brathwaite will criss-cross the continent, spending as much time as possible with each goalie and their respective goalie coaches. All the while, netminders who weren’t invited to this camp will attempt to make a positive impression in league play. Of the 10 teens invited to Hockey Canada’s goaltending camp in Calgary in June, the four 19-year-olds in that group are the ones who are in camp this week.

“I’m just letting them play,” Brathwaite said. “We’ve said it was wide open. In the past, there have been people who were a shoo-in (to make the team because they had been on it before) and then had a rough go during the season. Just because guys aren’t here, doesn’t mean they are not going to be looked at as well.”

Fucale’s resolve, part of which comes from the experience of not winning in 2014, is recognized by Brathwaite.

“Zach is a little different,” Brathwaite said. “He is pretty upbeat. He is probably nervous, but he does not show it. Having a guy like that around the room brings a lot of confidence to the guys. I don’t think too many people are worried about Zach.”

Fucale can envision himself playing for Canada at the Bell Centre in December as the team tries to end a five-year gold drought, knowing he likely will do the same one day for the Canadiens.

“You want to be in the situations where there are high stakes, you want to represent your country well,” Fucale said. “I learned a lot last year. It’s not stress. Pressure is fun, and you have to look at it as an opportunity.”

EKBLAD SHOWS WHY HE WENT NO. 1

The attitude is one befitting the first pick in the 2014 National Hockey League draft.

There’s a good possibility defenceman Aaron Ekblad will earn a spot on the Florida Panthers’ roster during training camp in September, never to set foot in a junior rink as a player again.

Right now, Ekblad is setting an example at Canada’s summer camp.

“He is first in every drill, he is probably the hardest-working guy on the ice,” head coach Benoit Groulx said. “That shows what type of person he is and also the type of player he is.”

Not surprising, really, given Ekblad’s status in the game. He is doing what the best should do. It’s not just with his play where Ekblad is getting it right. He’s talking a good game as well.

“I want to prove I’m not too big to be in this situation,” Ekblad said. “Some guys, whatever it is, they think that just because they got drafted high, they are too good to come back here and make a mark. I still have to prove myself at this level.

“I don’t think it matters that 11 of us (from last year’s Canadian team in Sweden) can return. We lost, so there is still something on the table.”

Motivated Zach Fucale wants No. 1 goalie role for Canada

The 19-year-old goaltender, who became Canada’s No. 1 goalie at the 2014 world junior, but couldn’t help lead it to a gold medal, is fed by a desire to get Canada back on top of the junior hockey world.

“There is something I can do better in the crease, always,” Fucale said after Canada practised at the Bell Sports Complex on Monday. “We didn’t win last year, and I look in the mirror and say I have to step it up.

“Nothing is done. I have a lot of things to prove in order to make this team, and I am excited to start this preparation on the road to get to that tournament.”

Of the four goaltenders in the summer camp — Eric Comrie, Tristan Jarry and Philippe Desrosiers also are in competition for a job — just Fucale has world-junior experience.

It gives the Montreal Canadiens prospect an edge.

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When the Maple Leafs return to practice on Friday at the MasterCard Centre, the focus will be preparing for a road game on Saturday night in Boston against the Bruins.Don’t think, however, that a 3-2 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday will be forgotten completely. There were lessons for the Leafs in the game that they will take forward.